Managing Information Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Information - Essay Example Leibold et al. (2002) assert that during last three decades the world has gone through the important turning period in its economic, political and social history, which is related to the increasing appreciation of new values, such as openness, freedom, interdependency, networking and collaboration. It is accompanied by the acceleration of technological changes and impetuous development of computer and electronic communications. In the organisational context these processes entailed significant shifts in strategic management thinking and implementations: from information to knowledge and wisdom; from bureaucracies to networks; from training / development to learning; from local / national to transnational / global and meta-national; from competitive to collaborative thinking; from single and multi-connective relationships to bio-corporate relationships (Leibold et al. 2002: p.14). All these changes clearly reveal that the current era of the global economy is primarily based on knowled ge and intellectual assets rather than on material and financial assets. This era is often called New Economy or Knowledge Economy (Drucker 1994; Davenport & Prusak 1998), where knowledge is considered as a key organisational asset, which ensures sustainable competitive advantages for companies (Alavi & Leidner 2001). Companies in its turn also represent a new form of organisations, which exploit specific organisational structures and new information technologies, and base their business upon a development of core competencies through knowledge and expertise sharing and organisational learning. This paper is aimed to discuss modern concepts and approaches related to management of knowledge in organisations, and critically assess the role of Knowledge Management in creation of sustainable competitive advantages of enterprises. 3.0 Key Findings 3.1 Supporting Knowledge Management Understanding Knowledge in Organisations Knowledge in organisations is considered as â€Å"any text, fact , example, event, rule, hypothesis, or model that increases understanding or performance in a domain or discipline† (Liebowitz & Beckman 1998: p.49). Another useful definition of knowledge is â€Å"a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insights that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. In organisations, it often becomes embedded not only in documents and repositories but also in organizational routines, processes, practices, and norms† (Davenport & Prusak 1998: p.5). Allee (1997: p.62) explains that when information is involved in the larger context of meaning, when it is analysed and linked with other information, when it is referred to existing patterns, social and cultural biases and interpretations – then it becomes knowledge. So, evidently, knowledge can be organised and classified, having the properties of an object. At the same time, â€Å"knowledge can be viewed as a process of transformation through creation, adaptation, enhancement and application† (Allee 1997: p. 47). Or, in other words, â€Å"knowledge is the process of knowing, a reflexive process that takes data and information, in a social context, mixes the ingredients and factors [experience, judgment, common sense, rules of thumb, values and beliefs, basic truths, context, best practices, emotions, desires] to generate new data, information, and/or knowledge†

Marketing For Non-profit Organizations Case Study

Marketing For Non-profit Organizations - Case Study Example Coming to the Political factors which can influence the museum, it was identified that the Mayor's commission on the inclusion of Asian and African settlers in London into the Heritage could play an instrumental role in deciding if the museum would get the required support from the Greater London Association (GLA) for its further needs. It could also play a role in making a political impression, which could go a long way in the museum's growth. The 2012 Olympics and its preparations were also taken into consideration while formulating the political factors. At this juncture when the Government of UK was looking forward to make rapid changes to the city of London in a big way and also promote tourism, it is an undisputable fact that the museums would directly be impacted from this move. The 2012 Olympics and the Government's preparations for it and also the modernization agenda of London would really help the museum sector in the long run. Likewise, the social factors were identified to be the literacy rate of the city, country and the constitution of the population. Around 28% of the population consisted of the Asians and Africans and it was clearly identified that there was a need to include and appreciate their services too. Hence, extensive SWOT and PEST analyses on the British museum and the museum sector as a whole and suggestions were made. Since the marketing audit is essentially divided into Internal and External m arket analyses, we classify strengths, weaknesses as the internal analysis of the museum. Likewise, we classify political, economic, social and technological factors as the external environmental condition for any organization. It is obvious that the external environment for the museum too plays a crucial role in the growth of the organization in the long run. Marketing Audit and Recommendations It is a well-known fact that the British museum in London is one of the world's greatest museums of human history and culture. Its collections, which number more than 13 million objects from all continents, illustrate and document the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. is a point of controversy whether museums should be allowed to possess artefacts taken from other countries, and the British Museum is notable target for criticism (Albert Gunther, 2003).The Elgin marbles and the Benin Bonzes are among the most disputed objects in its collections, and organisations have been formed demanding the return of both sets of artefacts to their native countries of Greece and Nigeria respectively. The British Museum has refused to return either set, or any of its other disputed items, stating that the "restitutionist premise, that whatever was made in a country must return to an original geographical site, would empty both the British Museum. The Museum has also argued th at the British Museum Act of 1963 legally prevents it from selling any of its valuable artefacts, even the ones not on display. Internal Environment Analysis The Weaknesses Lack of funds, has clearly paralyzed the prospects of development of the museum in a real big way. Under funding has clearly caused discontent among the employees of the organization. In fact there were instances when the employees had gone off their duties in order to protest the government's attitude towards the museum. At a time when